I never did this well, and I think it's safe to say, most students never had a semester of perfect grades either.
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| Riley outside the Comm building |
Such academic excellence is not "old hat" to sophomore Zion Riley but it is something she is used to achieving.
In three semester at SC State, Riley has consecutive straight As. Last fall she earned all As while taking eight courses!
Her only "blemish" was her first term as a spanking new freshman when she received one B (the one hour biology lab- dang!).
Her current GPA is a gleaming 3.979. The communications major and Honor's College member came to State from Edisto High School in Orangeburg County. Her GPA there was 3.998.
Riley was born in Macon, Ga. and spent many childhood years in Atlanta. Both her parents, Barbara Andrews and Harold Riley, are SC State Bulldogs as are several other relatives.
How Does She Do It???
You may think such a successful student is a teacher's pet type. You may think every class she sits right up front, right? Wrong. "I'm actually a middle to back person," she says. "The middle is my safe zone."
"I have to give a lot of credit to my mom," she says. "I like to be proactive. The second I get an assignment I start thinking OK how can I do this. For instance, Dr. Rahman just gave us an assignment, not officially assigned but an assignment description sheet. So I right away kind of draft in my head how I'm going to do it. Then once I start the assignment it just kind of comes out easily."
She also says she knows her "learning mechanisms." In math, for instance, she says she can watch or study it once and do it again. In English, a little more effort is needed. "I have to reread it," she says. "I may go to YouTube and listen to someone explaining it, and I have to take notes in class. And right before the test, I'm on YouTube watching an explanation of it and when I take the test, I try to remember everything I've heard."
For test multiple choice questions she says she is "a really good person at the process of elimination."
With short answer questions, she says, "I know wordy isn't better but sometimes if you write longer eventually you realize you have the right answer in what you wrote."
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| Riley's ride with its "Dani From The Block" plate (ask her!) |
Riley is very conscious of time management. "I know I have to eat every day but I also know I have to study every day," she says.
And often she eats and studies at the same time.
A bit of a night owl, Riley says she usually stays up until midnight doing her work. She says this allows her to sleep in a little later. She avoids early classes to compensate for this habit.
Three Takeaway Tips
1. Have a calendar- "I have three calendars," she says. "I have one on my phone. Then there's one on a whiteboard in front of my desk in my room, and I have a paper one that has my schedule with all my due dates. Do I have a meeting, do I have an assignment due, do I have a taping, an audition?"
2. Mantras- "I have to give a shout out to Mr. Benet," Riley says. "He had us come up with a mantra or mission statement. I found a definition of success that said, 'Success is when your determination outweighs your excuses."
She's not sure who said that. "I found it on Google," she says.
Another one she likes came from a friend of a friend who has an acronym for focus. "Finding ourselves creates unlimited success," Riley recites, without a pause. "I think this is really important especially while you are in college. This is the time for you to find yourself while also trying to find your career. And if you can find yourself while in your major I think that's perfect."
3. Keep yourself around positive people- "The group that you run with, their energy feeds your energy. And if you have someone in your group who is not matching your energy, it's going to bring you down."
She also believes in "blending" with other people and trying new things. The sophomore has many extra curricular activities. Along with her Honor's College and communications classes and activities she is also active with the school's drama department and productions.
"Getting outside my normal group, it keeps me centered," she says. "I feel that I can relate to a lot of different people."
Riley is not sure what she would like to do after college, but graduate school is a likely next step.
Until then: "I want my 4.0" is her plan. And with her focus and discipline, SC State's Zion Riley will continue to star in the classroom as South Carolina native Zion Williamson stars for Duke on the basketball court in the NCAA Tournament currently underway.
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